The Moral One
by TheCivilState
Summary: Finn was always the moral one.  If any got a happy ending, it should have been him.  Finn/OC


Klaus was not a moral man. Perhaps there were good deeds left in him somewhere, buried deep down near his toes, but he was not a moral man. Neither were Kol and Rebekah and even Elijah with his noble honor was not a moral man. He had ripped too many hearts from too many chest cavities, they all had. They all reveled in what they were and enjoyed the power that came with it. It was a power they could use to fashion for themselves an ideal life, a power that allowed them to control those around them. Had you asked any of them, even Elijah, they would have confessed to loving what they were. Except for Finn. Finn was the most moral of them all, something they knew he attributed entirely to one woman. Aria.

Aria had been Tatia's cousin and had the original doppleganger been any less beautiful, perhaps Elijah and Klaus would have noticed Aria more. But their oversight of the lovely girl had been to Finn's advantage. He loved the girl with bright eyes and a wide smile more passionately than any of them ever loved Tatia. Finn's life revolved around making Aria happy and he endured the ridicule from his brothers who thought him a lovesick fool for bringing her flowers, helping her maintain her vegetable garden, and allowing her to plait a falcon's feather into his hair. Finn did not mind aiding Aria with domestic chores for while Tatia neglected them to run amuck with Klaus and Elijah, Finn would be guaranteed hours alone with Aria as they maintained her home. The tasks were menial and dull, but the close proximity they provided to Aria was something Finn would never forfeit.

"Men were not designed to produce clothing," he said one day as he glared at the material before him. Beside him, Aria sat humming softly to herself while she worked on a new dress for Tatia. He had asked once what song she could always be heard humming or singing to herself and she assured him it was a lullaby, but he was unfamiliar with it. He had even paid enough attention to the notes to hum it to his mother and sister who had laughed at his awful rendition before informing him they'd never heard the tune before. It was simply another mystery associated with Aria that Finn believed he would never solve. He was quite content with that knowledge because in his mind, it meant he would never grow tired of Aria the way he was certain his brothers would tire of Tatia.

"You said the same about sweeping," Aria said and she smiled at him without looking up from her work. She had given up her life to live with her cousin who had given birth to a child out of wedlock. Banishment from the village had been expected as the standard punishment, but Aria had pleaded with her father and uncle to allow her and Tatia to take up residence in an abandoned home on the outskirts of the village. They had consented after their respective wives had informed them that Tatia's son would need the guiding hand of their grandfather and great-uncle if there was any hope of him living a life outside his mother's tarnished name. That is how Aria, Tatia, and her son Ivan had come to live in an abandoned house that Aria had transformed into a home.

A shrill cry arose and while Finn flinched at the noise as he always did, Aria rose calmly and strode to the far end of the sitting room where the young Ivan was resting in his makeshift bed by the low fire. Spring was coming to life in the world outside and while a full fledged fire was not needed, a small one was kept to ward off the occasional chill that seeped in through the cracks of the house.

"Hello Ivan," Aria greeted the babe as she lifted him into her arms. His fingers tangled in the golden locks of her hair out of habit and Finn often found himself envious of the child for having such a liberty. Aria swayed him gently as she returned to Finn's side, humming all the while. He watched as she tickled the child's stomach until a gurgle of laughter arose and her smile widened further.

"You will make an excellent mother," Finn said. Aria awarded him a small smile, but shook her head.

"No," she said, eyes returning to the child, "Ivan will be the only child I will ever care for. I am afraid Tatia's blackened reputation has tainted my own."

"And yet you willingly chose to live with her?" He had never understood why Aria would forfeit a life with her family, a life of normalcy, to live with her vain and selfish cousin who cared noting for her or for her newborn son.

"Someone had to care for Ivan," she said. There, the truth was out. Aria's desire to live with her cousin had nothing to do with Tatia, but rather with her bastard son. She had cast away her life and forfeited her right to a family and children of her own to raise a boy who would never be hers. Finn loved her all the more in that instant.

Eventually, Ivan returned to slumber and Aria returned him to his bed. Her eyes did not meet Finn's as she resumed her work on Tatia's new dress and no longer did she hum. On their own accord, Finn's fingers darted out and cautiously held one of her golden curls gently in their grasp. Her shoulders straightened and her hands stilled, but she did not turn to look at him. He gathered more of her hair in his hand, mussing her braid as he did so. There was a line carefully drawn between them and he was acutely aware of how dangerously close he was to stepping over it. Aria was aware of it as well.

"Finn," she said, turning to face him and watching the way his eyes traced the features of his face. She didn't withdraw when he leaned closer, nor did she make a move to catch Tatia's dress as it slipped from her lap and pooled on the floor. She allowed his hand to delve further into her hair until he was cupping the back of her head. She allowed him to pull her close and wrap his arms around her waist. And when his face hovered inches from her mouth, she reached up and fiddled with the feather she had plaited into his hair. She didn't withdraw when he kissed her, merely pulled him closer and allowed herself to sink into his embrace. As far as Aria knew, this was the most perfect moment in her life. As for Finn, he was intent to never live without her.

It did not take long for Elijah and Klaus' competition over Tatia to escalate to a dangerous level. Their mother's response had been to kidnap the dark skinned beauty with the help of her witch friend Ayanna, who aided in helping turn Esther's husband and children into vampires. Their response had been to go on a murderous rampage throughout the village. Aria, safely located on the outskirts of town with Ivan, was far enough away to escape their wrath. The fact Finn had threatened to kill anyone who touched her may have swayed his siblings' decision to stay away.

"Aria!" Finn's voice drifted into the house and was followed by a pounding on the door. She tucked Ivan snugly into his bed before undoing the latch and opening the wooden door just enough that she could see Finn, windswept and drenched by the rain. His hand darted up to touch her face, but was blocked by an invisible barrier. He growled in frustration, dark veins forming beneath his eyes and Aria jumped backwards in panic, door flying open in the wind. He tried to step forward, but was once again stopped by an invisible barrier.

"Aria," he said, "I cannot enter unless you invite me. Please, invite me in." She felt a strange tingling behind her eyes as he stared intently at her and quickly ducked her head, raising a hand to shield herself from his gaze.

"Stop it!" she said and shuffled forward and grasped the door that beat against the wall as the wind filled the house and extinguished the fire. Ivan began to scream.

"I am sorry," Finn said, "I do not understand what has happened, but I swear to you Aria, I will not hurt you. Please, let me in." She grasped the door with both her hands and pushed against the force of the wind that was picking up Ivan's screams and making them dance throughout the house.

"If you will not let me in," he said, "Then take this." He dropped a crudely carved dagger at her feet and she recognized the wood from the white oak that stood proudly in the center of the village.

"Should any member of my family try to harm you," he explained, "This dagger will kill them. But you must strike their heart or it will fail. Keep it with you always, Aria, I beg you." She ignored the wind and the rain and Ivan's screams as she looked up at Finn. His head hung in shame as his shoulders became heavy with the weight of the world and the dark veins beneath his eyes had receded. He had been transformed into something against his will, but beneath all of that was the man she knew. The man who spent countless hours aiding her in her pursuit to turn an abandoned house into a home. And man who twirled her hair between his fingers and kissed her when no one was watching. A man who would willingly hand her the one weapon that could destroy him. She reached out and grasped his arm.

"Come in," she said, "Please, come inside." Finn entered and shut the door against the force of the wind with no exertion of effort. He latched it, continued not to make eye contact with Aria, and proceeded to build up a fire as she comforted a very putout Ivan. They danced around one another and sat on opposite ends of the room and while Aria was free to observe him, Finn was intent to keep his eyes averted. He did not understand what evil power had been bestowed upon him, but he did know it was very easy now to convince an individual to do as he wished. He did not wish to strip Aria of her freewill.

"Mother says we shall live forever," he explained, intently watching the fire as it grew. This fire was tame and provided warmth, unlike the fire his siblings had started to destroy the white oak. That fire merely caused destruction, a destruction his siblings reveled in as they tore through the village and slaughtered the inhabitants as Elijah and Klaus desperately searched for Tatia.

"Forever is a long time," Aria mused as she placed a calmed and sleeping Ivan back into his bed. She stepped closer to Finn and settled down at his side by the fire and watched the flames leap and dance. His hand reached out to her habitually, but he dropped it back to his side before he touched her. There was a newfound strength in his body and while he did not understand the extent of it, he understood it would take little effort to harm Aria. Such a thing he could not live with.

"Mother made us like this," he said, "Perhaps she could do the same for you." It was an evil thought to have. The idea of someone so beautiful and pure as Aria being turned into a monster was the same as condemning an angel to an eternity in hell. He could not allow such a thing and instantly regretted his words. Aria reached out and grasped his hand, threading her fingers through his. Neither looked away from the fire.

"I would have liked to love you forever," she said, "But we both know I cannot." To validate her claim, the child that had always been her sole responsibility shifted in his bed. It was one thing to be a monster, but another thing entirely to be a monster raising a child. A mere flick of the finger and Ivan would be dead.

Finn smelled the salt of her tears before they began to fall. His gaze traveled from the fire to her golden hair to her light eyes that glimmered in the light. Those eyes remained fixated on the flames as he drew a finger along the pale skin beneath them that would never be marred by blackened veins. Eyes that would never turn red as an insatiable bloodlust overtook. Eyes that would watch the seasons pass and Ivan grow into a man and perhaps, if she were fortunate enough, remain open and seeing long enough for Ivan to have his own family with children she would be able to hold and love the way she loved a son not her own. Eyes that would only remember seeing him as a man and not as a monster.

"Close your eyes," he said and watched as Aria's eyes dutifully slid shut. He tilted her head and kissed her lips, _once, twice. _Her eyes remained shut as he whispered a promise, lips ghosting over hers as he stamped his words into her skin.

"I will love you all my life."

When Aria's eyes at last opened, Finn was gone, the only trace of him being the white oak dagger pressed into her hands. She cast it into the fire without a second thought.

**a/n: **This is where Zizi, already super possessive of Finn, got even more super possessive. Too bad neither of us own him.

Fave, flame, faint.

oxox


End file.
